


A Crown of Stars in Her Hair

by NaokoSword



Category: Pandora (TV 2019)
Genre: 2199, Alien Mythology/Religion, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Clone Wars, Cyborgs, F/F, F/M, Honor Code, I make no promises, Mainly Story & Worldbuilding, Multi, Other, Polyamory, Religious Conflict, Romance, Slave Trade, Telepathy & Empathy, idiots to lovers, maybe smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2020-07-27 22:25:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20053513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NaokoSword/pseuds/NaokoSword
Summary: "A love story between a Space Prince and an Escaped Clone Slave. This cannot possibly end well. Of course I want to be a part of it."Orphaned by the destruction of her home world Jax attends the Royal Fleet Academy where she befriends Crown Prince Thomas Rosetta, the future King of Solaria and his girlfriend (only they don't know yet) Atria.





	1. 1 for Sorrow 9 for Mirth

**Author's Note:**

> “I love my hour of wind and light,  
I love men’s faces and their eyes,  
I love my spirit’s veering flight  
Like swallows under evening skies.”  
–Sara Teasdale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This exists in no small part thanks to BlondieXxX. I don't know where you went and I wish you were still here, but I'm glad you were here to help me make this.

_"Paging passenger Emilio Largo. Emilio Largo to the Security Desk."_

The voice of the loudspeaker came out surprisingly clear, which some small part of my head registered as out of place. Most station loud speakers are so garbled or echo so much you can't understand a single thing they say.

I guess that’s capital world tech for you.

I stepped off the escalator, adjusted the bag on my shoulder and looked around the station. It was packed with people, most in uniforms or in groups of others in matching clothes. A few here and there were doing their own thing though, so I wasn’t completely disappointed with the lack of originality.

The station was all white and steel, and much cleaner than the station in New Portland had been…

I had to cut off that thought off before I started thing too much about my home. My Mom and Dad and friends who were now nothing more than a smoking hole in the ground.

I quickly focused in front of me, trying to keep myself distracted. Thankfully the thing in front of me was pretty distracting. It was a statue, going all the way to the station ceiling, of a regal woman holding a globe in her hand and wearing a crown of stars in her hair. She had a full figure. Stocky with the build you’d expect from a former soldier. Her hair was longer than it was in the historical vids though, and it hung down her back in golden beaded dreadlocks though the statue had been done in bronze. Her face was full and round, though unmistakably beautiful even in metal and several times larger than the original. Her nose was small as were her ears, but all this fit her perfectly.

Queen Diana Rosetta of Solaria. Protector of Earth and founding Monarch of the Kingdom of Solaria, which spanned half the Sagittarius Arm of the Galaxy and the one power keeping the Zitarian Empire in check. It wasn’t exactly as surprise to find her depicted here, so near to the capital city on the capital world, It was just a little jarring to see her so prominent compared to what we saw at home. New Portland had been just that, new. Barely even a real city, much less a full blown colony. There’d been only one statue of the Queen and it was in the center of town surrounded by the only green they’d managed to grow before the collapse.

“Jax” someone called out. “Hey, Jax, wait.”

I felt someone grab my arm and pull me around and suddenly I was looking, gape-mouthed, at a man I’d never met in my life. He was a few years older than me, quite good looking with classic European features and a head of sandy brown hair. He was also still holding onto my arm.

“Sorry?” he apologized and quickly removed his hand from me. A good thing too since I’d been going over the best ways of snapping it off in my head. He cleared he throat, seeming unsure what to do next. “Welcome to Earth.”

“You're not Professor Osborn.” I said, seeing no need to waste time on manners after being grabbed like that. Plus it was true. I was expecting my Uncle, not this presumptuous prettyboy.

“You're perceptive, I see.” He was trying to be funny, really it just became more likely I would hit him. I arched one of my eyebrows and didn’t let up on the glare I was giving him. “I'm his teaching assistant, Xander Duvall.”

He reached on his hand to shake but I ignored it. Were the customs about personal space and not grabbing people that different on Earth?

“I was told I'd be meeting Dr. Osborn, so…?” I’d hoped he’d take the hint to go away, or at least explain why the hell he was here, but he went right on ahead talking.

“Yeah, he was supposed to – he wanted to, in fact. But he's very busy, so he sent me instead.” Xander rambled in answer.

It seemed this whole month was on a downward trend and going to stay that way. I had never even met my uncle, but I had at least expected him to come and greet me himself given the circumstances. _Especially_ given that he hadn’t even been at the memorial service the fleet had held. I was growing less and less optimistic about how good a home this would be and I started to say as much.

“You think he'd find the time to meet the orphaned niece he's never met.”

“Yeah,” said Xander, “like I said, he's…”

“‘_Very busy_.’” I leaned in close and repeated his words back to him as bluntly as I could before turning and walking away. “I heard you.” I said over my shoulder. I was sure I could find my own way and at least I’d be away from this null-whit.

There was a beat or two where I actually thought he’d let me walk away. But then I heard him start after me through the crowd.

“I'm not sure we're completely getting off on the right foot here, are we?” His tone was questioning – but we both knew the answer.

I didn’t bother to stop or turn around. I knew I was being rude. I didn’t much care. “Well, it appears I'm not the only one who's perceptive then.”

“I had a class with your mother.”

That made me stop. Bringing up something like that … He clearly wasn’t going away and maybe, _just_ maybe, I was being a little more rude that he could entirely have earned by himself. If he was going to bring up my mother I could at least hear what he had to say.

Before I decked him.

He stepped closer as he kept talking and I turned to face him. “When I was a freshman. She was an inspiring teacher. I'm sorry for your loss.”

It was simple, not overly flowery or gilded and clearly sincere. Mom had been really special. Smarter than I’d ever be.

Now I’d never get to attend one of her lessons down the road.

She’d taught me a lot and now she was gone. I thought I was all grieved out but now…best not to think about it anymore. Moving on, keep going.

“That's very kind of you.” I replied, returning honesty for honesty. Maybe I’d misjudged him. The whole grabbing thing could have been just a bit of bad luck and I doubted he’d been the one to suggest that he come and pick me up instead of my uncle. Plus, it wasn’t as if I would have minded being grabbed if the circumstances had been a little different. And consensual.

“I suppose we should go get my duffels then.” I said, letting a small smile cross my face so you could hear it in my voice. “You may just be strong enough to carry all of them.”

I patted his arm as he took the lead off towards the baggage claim, continuing to smile a little to myself. I guess he, like most guys, did have his uses in carrying heavy things.

And getting things off tall shelves.

* * *

“Interesting he chose to model his home on the Queen Anne's.” I said, looking around my uncles’ home. I picked up one of the picture frames sitting on an end table, glanced at the older man in it I assumed was my uncle and put it back where it’d been. “Not what I was expecting.”

The place was…“richly appointed” is what Mom would have called it. The words circling through my head weren’t nearly that complimentary. Cluttered maybe, or ostentatious came nearer the mark. _Pretentious_ I decided, that was the word.

“Yeah?” Xander, somehow I’d almost forgotten he was there. “What were you expecting?”

“Certainly not to find my uncle aspiring to live in the home of a Bonanza King. Even if just a very impressive replica.”

The room around me was almost exactly like the pictures of the old Queen Anne Hotel. I wondered idly what was my uncle trying to say with this demonstration. A show of the wealth that the Silver Kings had boasted in the eighteen hundreds or something else entirely.

“Is that you, Mr. Duvall?” I heard an oddly accented voice call from around the corner of another very “richly appointed” room. I had a hard time placing it for a moment, but then I remembered. Mom said she and her family originally came from the Kensington colony. She’d had a faint accent, but mostly she sounded Alterian like Dad.

“It is, Professor.” Patrick called back.

A man with thick silver hair and very short beard, who I assumed was my uncle Donavan, came around the corner. He was good looking - for an older guy.

He looked a little like Mom.

He wore what looked like a black waistcoat mixed with a cuirass over a white dress shirt. It was strange to me, but I’d sees similar outfits on some of the men in and around the school grounds.

“Uncle.” I said, putting as much warmth as I could manage into my voice. No matter how I felt about him, it was important to get off on the right foot. He was all the family I had left in the cosmos.

“Jacqueline.” He replied, placing one hand on the back of an arm chair. I hated it when people use my full name. “Sorry I was unable to greet you personally, but it is most agreeable to finally meet you after all these years, sadly under such unfortunate circumstances.” His voice sounded stiff and formal, but honest. Not unfriendly per say, but not what I expected to greet me.

And he hadn’t even tried to hug me.

It was a little thing I guess, but Mom had been very much a hugger. We were a touchy-feely family with eachother and that was important to me growing up and now. My uncle, it seemed, was cut from a different kind of cloth.

I nodded my head to him slightly, to acknowledge his words. “I appreciate your help, uncle. It's been a difficult few months as I'm sure you can imagine.” Massive understatement, but still honest. And about the best I could manage.

He lowered his head and eyes, and I thought I could see grief flash across his face for a bare moment.

“I presume you've already been briefed on your dispensation.”

Straight into business then. I was starting to think this was his defense mechanism. I decided to push a little. If I could get another show of emotion out of him…

Maybe…just maybe.

“If you mean that as my only living relative, an I'm now your burden, then yes.”

“Hardly a burden, my dear.” he took my flippancy completely in stride. He probably got much worse from students on a daily basis. “I'm not an emotional man, but I loved your mother dearly. And to her, family was everything. I feel it incumbent upon me to make sure that you're looked after. It's what she would have wanted.”

I nodded my head in acknowledgement of that. He was right about what she would have wanted

“Thank you uncle.” I said. “I appreciate that.”

He nodded back, the deepest show of affection I’d seen out of him so far.

“Now, you're aware I arranged with the Chancellor for you to matriculate this semester at the Royal Fleet Academy?”

Chancellor Villareal acted as the Governor of Earth, appointed by the Queen herself as her closest advisor and confidant. It could be rightly said that no other person held so much power outside the royal family. And he oversaw the education and development of the entire kingdoms’ militias and navy.

“I appreciate you interceding on my behalf.” I said. It wasn’t a trivial thing to get into the Royal Academy in the first place and to get in part way through the school year was even more difficult. A degree from there, even if I had nothing to do with the Fleet in the end, would open many doors for me down the road.

“The school year started two weeks ago,” Xander chimed in, “but based on your grades you should have no problem playing catch-up.”

How exactly did he know my grades? And what else did he know about me? How much had he and my uncle talked about me?

I was quickly becoming slightly less comfortable with Mr. Duval and wondering if I should have a chat with uncle Donovan about maybe keeping information about me to himself.

“And if there's anything else you need…”

“Quite right.” uncle Donovan took up the conversation again. “Mr. Duvall can assist you. He's one of my brightest pupils. Please feel free to rely on him for any of your immediate needs.”

“I certainly will, uncle.” I said, barely choking back the laugh and the dirty joke that was on the tip of my tongue.

“Now, as Mr. Duvall said, the school year has indeed commenced and I am already quite inundated with work. So, if you'll excuse me, I'll see you both on Friday for dinner here promptly at 7:00.”

“Of course.” I said, not entirely sure he was listening, as he was already backing away.

Then he turned and strode out of the room, back to whatever scholarly lalaland my arrival had pulled him from.

“Such a warm and sociable man.” I deadpanned. I’d been trying not to use sarcasm with my new uncle. Xander, on the other hand, was a perfectly acceptable target.

He snorted a laugh. “Great men like the professor are often somewhat quirky.”

“Not the word I would've used.” I replied, moving picking up one of my duffle bags. I hadn’t been hoping for a great man when I’d taken the offer to live here with my uncle. I’d just been hoping for _my family_.

“Anything else I can help you with?”

“Yeah.” I replied. “Where’s my room?”

“Follow me.” He said, picking up my other bags and leading the way to the stairs. “You will, of course, be living on campus with the other students. This is just for tonight before we move you into the student dorms.”

“Of course.” I said, following a few steps behind.

He took me a few of the flights before stopping at one of the myriad doors along one non-descript hallways and turning, handing me an old-fashioned key.

“I guess I'll be seeing you around then.” I said, sliding the key into the lock

“Sooner than you might think.” He said, putting down my bags. “I'll be seeing you in class.”

_Shit_

* * *

I left Protocol by way of the much quieter side door I didn’t know existed until everybody else headed for it, my face still burning red from the earlier tongue lashing. And I thought my uncle would be bad, but this guy… It’s not like getting lost was a crime.

“Shral didn't need to be such a scum weasel.”

I turned my head and saw what had to be the most colorful girl I’d ever seen in my life. She stuck out in the sea of cadets dressed in black and gray in her hot pink tank top, sparkly backpack, big rainbow hoop earrings and yellow miniskirt. Not to mention her head of vibrantly purple hair. She was adorably pretty and had a look on her face that reminded me of a puppy running up to a stranger and asking to play.

I was down for that.

I let out a sigh even as I let my mouth start to curl into a smile. It felt good to have someone to talk to, even if it was just about the teacher with a stick up his ass.

“It's my first day. I got lost on the way to class.” She let out a sympathetic little noise, her very expressive face taking on a look of total understanding. I couldn’t help but go on. “Are all the professors here so awful?”

“Actually, most of the profs are pretty neat.” She took hold of the straps of her bag as she continued to walk beside me. “Except Osborn. That man is a total ass.”

I took a second to stop myself from laughing. It was funny because it was true and because of what I got to do now.

“He's also my uncle.” I stated as flatly as I could manage.

The effect was immediate. The purple girl’s face took on such a look of such fluster and contrition that I almost felt sorry for the joke.

“Oops. I guess I shouldn't have said anything. I'm so sorry.”

Time to follow through on my end of the joke. Plus, she was right. “No, I agree. He is a total ass.”

That made the both of us laugh, and it was nice to be able to share a laugh with someone even if it was about insulting my uncle. It’d been a while.

I decided that I liked her.

“I'm Jax. Nice to meet you.” I said and reached out my hand to shake.

“Atria.” She said back and took my offered hand. Her palm was warm but calloused, as if accustomed to much harder work than reading and taking notes.

“So where you headed now, Jax?” Atria asked and once again took hold of the straps of her bag as we started to walk.

“Back to the dorm.” I said “I have a ton of assignments to catch up on.”

“Oh well I'm going to hang at the Black Hole. Want to come with?”

“Black Hole?” I was just assuming she didn’t mean an actual black hole. There were literal laws about experimenting with artificial black holes anywhere near an inhabited planet, especially after the Vega colony incident.

“Center of gravity on campus.” Atria explained. “Lounge, bar, hangout. Place where you can unwind. And if you ever wanted to hear some really bad poetry, it's the place to do that too.”

She immediately took ownership of my elbow as she linked it with hers and steered me in what I assumed was the direction of this Black Hole. Not that I was putting up much of a fight. Atria’s happy energy was infectious and even though I had not understated the amount of work I had I could use a break, and a friend, way more.


	2. 7 For A Secret Never To Be Told

**OK, so...  
**

**After months of trying to work on this I realize I have bitten off way more than I can chew on my own.  
**

**I am _still_ in Desperate need of a Beta if this is every going to be done, preferably one with good insights into human psyches, character interaction and possibly Polyamory.  
**

**Anyone interested in the job please say so in the comment section below.**

**Author's Note:**

> I'm writing this because it bugs me that there aren't any stories for this series yet and because World Building is fun. Updates will be sporadic at best. Still, comments and kudos are always appreciated.


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